Croatoan- The Untold Endervse Story of Dean and Castiels Survival
by Adorkable-666
Summary: Sam Winchester has said yes to Lucifer and Castiel has fallen from heaven after protecting Dean from Michaels wrath when he refused him. The world has been lost to the Croatoan Virus and Castiel is all Dean has left. How will they survive? And will words and feelings long unsaid finally be spoken?
1. Chapter 1

**Croatoan**

"Well Sammy, what do ya say?" Lucifer.  
His familiar rasp echoed in Sam Winchesters ears as he assessed his situation.  
Dean was on the ground a hellhound was standing over Dean. It's invisibility doing nothing to hinder the feel of it's presence.  
His knife on the other side of the room and that damned smiling face of his right in front of him, the skin on his current vessel was peaking and breaking out in festering cracks and sores. It was clear lucifer was wearing his meat suit thin.

"Sammy don't!" His brothers voice shouted only to be met with a loud wet snarl.

His brother, or the world.  
Which was more important? He questioned and his answer was fueled by the reply of a very dark part of him

"What has the world ever done for you but take everything you ever cared about away?"  
And even then  
"What has Dean ever been other than everything I do care about"

"Deal"  
That was the last memory Sam had of being in control of his body. The rest was iffy- he remembered a handshake, his brothers screaming that was then drowned out by an indescribable pain that started in his head and spread like wildfire over his body. Sam dropped to his knees and as his eyes rolled back into his head he saw lucifer whom still held his hand mouth "excellent"

The world had changed drastically since then. Dean had still refused Michael and Castiel had fallen because he had protected him from Michael

Castiel...Cas...  
What else could be said about him. He was all Dean really had now.

Croatoan outbreaks began to happen in small towns across the country and at first hunters had been able to keep them in check

Until that is, they spread to the cities. The virus spread to quickly for them to contain and at some point, one by one the hunters gave up trying to stop the virus and started trying to defend themselves and others against it

Dean and teamed up with group after group of hunters but in the end when their safe houses and Alamo's fell it was always Cas who continued to stay by his side. With no powers aside from somehow hearing his prayers still broken wings that needed more juice then an atom bomb to work and no home he was just as much a vagabond as Dean was and well, birds of a feather I suppose.

But right now Dean was thinking none of these things. Right now Dean was running. The old boathouse he had been hiding out in with a small group of civilians had been over run when one woman's nightmares had her screaming.

Every Crow for miles heard her and they were on them in seconds.  
He could hear his angels condolences now

_"you tried your best"  
"It's not like you made her scream"  
"It's not your fault" _

But his angel was dead. The demons who had led the crows to them were laughing about it an he heard every word. They rang in his ears and shook his core like an earth quake. He should've gone with him when he offered...

Armed with only a shotgun that was running dry and a handful of rusted knives he did what he could to fend them off but when he told them all to run he hadn't realized he had been the fastest out of them

He hadn't realized that after half a mile he'd be the only one running.  
After what felt like a hour he finally stopped followed only by the ghosts screams that the owners had left behind miles back. He stumbled around the decrepit town which nature was slowly reclaiming

How long had it been? A year, two? Since the hunters gave up. It seemed like centuries ago. He busted his way into a small diner where the food was either gone or beyond editable and he collapsed into his aching knees pain shooting up into the jello like muscles of his thighs pulling a grunt from his throat but he breathed the pain away.

_-Cas- _

he thought his lips moving with the words  
_-I've heard the rumors. Seen the smiles on those evil sons of bitches faces- _he dropped his head and blinked away the rivers that pooled in his eyes  
_-Comon man prove em wrong. Like you always do- _  
Minuets passed and when no answer came frustration and wild fury burned in him  
**_"DAMMIT CAS"_** he shouted not caring if anything heard slamming his fists into the rotted wood of the floor that it cracked the crust of rage causing a traitorous tear to crawl pathetically from his ducts "you can't leave me alone out here" he growled lowly through gritted teeth "not here...not this place...not you to" desperation creeped into his voice as he tried his best to focus only on the anger. It was an emotion he understood, he could handle. It distracted him from the black hole that was clawing up from his core and consuming his entirety and it's source.

"Dean..."  
The low rumble, the hoarse grit, he knew it anywhere. He turned his head to the door that had opened without his knowledge and saw a blood soaked trench coat and a torn blue tie. In a rush the pools dried like a desert and his exhausted legs pushed him up and forced him over in rapid almost clumsy movements "Cas! Son of a bitch am I happy to see you what the hell happened?" His words poured out in a rush as he took in the cuts and gashes that covered him but realized there was to much blood on him for it to be his own.  
Castiel stumbled and shuffled his energy nearly gone from getting here and from fighting off the horde "demons...knew who I was...sent horde" his words came in between breathes and the last word was garbled and slurred as it was spoken through lips that were slowly falling unconsinious. His body slid into deans support as it gave out Deans legs barely able to support them both as he slowly lowered the former angel to the chilled wood floor.

He forced his legs to stand, _he needed to make this place safe for Cas_

_Cas needed to be safe- I...I need to be safe _

Deans train of thought suprised him and with a violent shake of his head he tossed them away "self preservation man, you think by now you would've learned it" he mumbled to himself before closing the front door to keep the whispers of snow from creeping inside. Grabbing a dusty and formally white table cloth and crammed it into the bottom crack to keep the cold out and to muffle sound. He grabbed a chair and crammed it under the rusted door knob. It wasn't much but at least the sound of the chair falling would be enough to get his attention. After searching the rest of the building for entrances, exits and salt he started blocking off every possible entrance with noise makers, furniture, or salt. All expect for one window on the second floor that looked over a large bundle of bushes they were barren and wouldn't do much but it was better then nothing. After forcing his exhausted body to go through the motions of "securing" an area he decided it was time to kick back and take watch.

And in a decrepit coffee shop in the middle of a zombie-demon virus apocalypse Dean Winchester grabbed his shot gun, his handheld and his knifes, a bottle of dwindling whiskey and sat himself down next to a catatonic bloodied fallen angel in a trench coat and watched over him for over twenty hours. His legs were screaming, He was exhausted, a little drunk, and happy  
Here, in this god forsaken cafe in a godforsaken world  
Dean Winchester was happy


	2. Chapter 2

Hours passed like that. Dean waiting patiently his shotgun lying beside him on the floor with nothing but the sound of Castiels sometimes uneven breathing filling the dead air. He chatted sometimes speaking randomly to the unresponsive mass of fabric and scruff about his thoughts and pervious experiences glad to have some company that he was comfortable with, even if they weren't totally conscious "These past couple of months man...I gotta tell you,we should've never split up" he said with a sigh his voice grated with sleep deprivation. "I don't care if every nuke with wings is on your ass and every black eyed bitch is one step ahead of you...we ain't cutting loose again.i can't keep doing this cas" he shook his head not knowing if this was the exhaustion or the whiskey talking but since there was no one around to really hear anyway he figured -why the hell not"?!- "I mean... I tried everything, I buried myself in bullets and easy women but...I still didn't feel like my old self" he sighed and with an awkward laugh ran a hand through his hair "I can't keep running around without my family man... Your all I got, I can't keep pretending I lost everyone to this place like everyone else and I can't keep worrying that maybe I really did...that maybe your out there rotting somewhere." He clenched his jaw his teeth grinding mercilessly into each other "just..what I'm trying to say is...is I... You trench coat wearing son of a bitch I ne-"

"Dean?" His voice broke though deans sentence all thoughts of what was on his mind were swept under the rug as something more important filled his mind

_Cas was awake_

_Cas was more important_

He sat up only to see the angel trying to do the same leaning forward he placed a calloused hand on his horribly frail shoulder "hey take it easy we don't need you passing out again" he said with a breathless smile as relief filled his eyes the darkness turning them to the color of aged whiskey. He found them connecting with _his angels_

_THE angel...dammit man you gotta lay off the booze_

Again he shoved the thoughts away his eyes staying on the baby blues that were slowly regaining their light that always slowed his brain for a moment. He allowed himself to look the angel over, his jawline was outlined by dark scruff and spots of dried blood, the rust colored blotches extended down his throat and onto his coat and shirt his tie was torn and frayed, but despite his ragged look he smiled "you look like hell man" he said as relief fueled chuckle was pulled from his throat"well I was just attacked by it so I suppose my appearance resembles that of hell "  
Even his familiar obliviousness made his childish smile grow "I'm just glad to see your alright man, new rule. No more of this splitting up shit. We had a system and that worked, I'm tired of having to team up with people who don't know what the hell they're doing. I could really care less if it meant dealing with a few more assholes every now and then"

Cas looked up at dean his eyes staying on his. He had hated splitting up, he had told himself he would follow this man to his death but after their last run in with his fellow angels he had realized that being around him was only leading dean to his death. It had been difficult. He had been cruel and the look on deans face haunted his nightmares to his day but he could see now that beautifully human resolve and stubbornness that resonated from deans every feature and decided it was no use fighting him "alright dean..." He said a hidden smile of relief in his words. "So. How much longer are we staying here." He asked and was shocked by his partners answer. Deans face pulled into a slow crooked smile that was that of a child who had something very very fun planned "that all depends. Can you run?"  
Deans excitement fueled his own "for as long as you want" he replied  
Without another word he passed him a shotgun and kicked the chair out from under the doorknob "there's about seven out there" dean said his voice lower now  
"So what's the plan?" Castile asked an icy mixture of excitement and fear pulsing in his veins his heart stopping momentarily as a fear driven wild smirk came across deans face as he kicked the door open **"WE RUN!"' **With a manic laugh he shot a crow that was snarling on the porch before them and took off down the road shooting only those that got to close. Without a second thought castiel did what was only natural. He followed dean.

Deans blood was ice as castiel ran beside him again he was surprised by the euphoria that took the place of terror and after saving cas's ass and having his ass saved they finally found themselves a reasonable spot out in the density of the woods. They burned through a reasonable amount of wood and by the time it was ashes Dean had fallen asleep with his head resting on a log tiny wisps of hair brushing against Castiels calf but he paid no mind his eyes watching the dying embers as dean tossed and turned in a nightmare.

_**Deans Nightmare**__  
He was on a cliff overlooking the world "look at it Dean"  
"Sammy...?" Dean turned his head to see him there, Sam sporting a pristine white suit stained only by a crimson rose in his breast pocket "what have you done?" He tsk'd like a sarcastic disappointed parent "your not my brother" dean hissed through gritted teeth "aren't i?" He replied with a short dark laugh "I fought at first, blamed myself but then I realized. Not only am I finally away from you without worrying about you doing something stupid to drag me back to sate your own selfish needs but...I realized something, I'm not the detonator.. I'm the bomb. I need somebody to set me off,and that was you dean"_

_"Your lying," he nearly shouted lunging for him but realized he couldn't move_

_"And it is written that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in hell. As he breaks so shall it break" with a dark quirk of his brow he smiled "familiar words I know.. Don't you get it you stupid sack of flesh... I am your brother, just a bit more juiced up. If I wasn't, how could I know exactly how to push your buttons?" With a snap of his fingers he was there, and he looked absolutely broken_

_"Cas...?"_

_"Dean? You started all this? After everything I sacrificed for you...it was all so this could happen?!" He shouted violently "maybe I should've left you down there"_

_"Cas...cas common man don't say that?"_

_"Why shouldn't he? He's right"_

"L...Lisa?" He whipped around only to nearly knock into her "look what you've caused dean!" She shrieked and pointed to Ben growling and devouring a young man elbow deep in his mid section

_"Face it dean...you break everything you touch" again Castiels voice that was soon backed by a chorus of cries and screams from his mother, Lisa, Ben, cas, his father, Sammy, Bobby, everyone he couldn't help. Everyone he wasn't strong enough to save. He fell to his knees screaming for them to stop following this pattern until morning broke where he woke with a start to find castiel had succumbed to sleep as well. He also noticed that he to was suffering the agonies of sleep. With a shaky breathe he sat up focusing on trying to restart their fire from the night before needing some kind of distraction._

**_Castiels nightmare_**

_"Dean... I have to go" his voice was steeled and rehearsed but it was better than nothing he was surrounded by a crumbling old where house- it may not be all that fantastic but it was home...a home he was about to leave behind, he knew the only way to get away from dean was to hurt him, was to break his number one personal commandment  
"What?" A disbelieving nervous smile sped across his face  
"I mean, I can't stay here anymore" he steeled himself and began his murder "I can't spend one more second around you locked up in this place. I don't want to be around you, I know we agreed to stay together but that was before I realized how much of a personal sacrifice that was" he was barely able to keep it together as he watched the light drain from deans eyes and the color leave his face. "I..I don't understand, Cas were...we're family"_

_God he had wished it wouldn't had come to this but now he realized they're was no choice "we aren't family dean! You were my responsibility not my brother! Do you really think I helped you all those times because of a sense of nostalgic compassion?! Are you joking? Dean you were my charge I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. If I did I would've left you to rot to make sure all this" he gestured violently to the area around them "wouldn't happen but I'm not an angel anymore dean. That's not my job, YOUR not my problem anymore" by the look on deans face he knew he'd done his job. His heart cracked seeing his first and only friends eyes we'll up with tears he knew wouldn't be split until he left_

_"Fine...if that's what you want then.. Get out" dean gestured one trembling hand to the reinforced door his eyes glued to the stained concrete floor. Unable to bring himself to walk past him he used what was left of his wings to leave in a rush unable to focus on anything but the look on Deans face he landed violently in a parking lot for a former shopping center somewhere near Missouri but he didn't get up, not at first. For a while he just allowed himself to lie there and rot in his own pool of listing and regret not moving until the Croatoan had found him and even then the monstrous horde wasn't much of a motivator._


End file.
